Everyone else is doing it, so why can't I?

Well, here it is, folks: the final curtain on that muddled Year of (Someone's) Lord Two-Thousand and Six. I'm not even going to begin to dissect the mixed bag of political conflagration that marked the past twelve months, nor will I divulge details about any personal emotional roller-coastering. Not that that's what we want during the winter Festivus. We want ENTERTAINMENT, and that is what we shall receive!

MUSIC AIN'T DEAD IN '06: EXHIBITS 1-5

Not to say that music is exactly in a healthy state of affairs. Postmodernism has been delcared dead on several occassions, but I have yet to see any of that spine-tingling futurist momentum last evident in the Clinton era. Even the best of the new fails to point forward, untterly incapable not only of escaping but surmounting the past - theoretically pure anterograde amnesia. So until we find someone capable of forging a capital-N New sound, let's at least focus on the least retrovisionary, postmodernist crap...

Cansei de Ser Sexy - "Alala" (from CSS)

Serena Maneesh - "Selina's Melodie Fountain" (from Serena Maneesh)

Sonic Youth - "What a Waste" (from Rather Ripped)

Spank Rock - "What It Look Like" (from YoYoYoYoYo)

TV on the Radio - "Let the Devil In" (from Return To Cookie Mountain)


SHOULDERS OF GIANTS: THE PAST THAT POINTS TO THE FUTURE

I had the most hellacious time composing my Top 25 of '06 list for one of my financially-unrewarding freelance gigs, because almost all the records that blew/continued to blow my mind were older records. To find a freshman band that could surpass this material is certainly asking a lot, but can't anyone at least come close?

Brainbombs - "Stupid and Weak" (from Urge To Kill)

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - "Super Sonic" (from Give It Back!)

Can - "Mushroom" (from Tago Mago)

The Fall - "Wrong Place, Right Time" (from I Am Kurious Oranj)

Magma - "De Futura" (from Udu Wudu)

Should you feel the need to purchase products by any of the above artists - and you should - check out Aquarius Records and, obviously, Amazon.


WASTING TIME WITH THE PERSON OF THE YEAR

Yeah, I spent way too much time on YouTube too. Here's some of the better bits of digital detritus I've sifted through.


The "24-Hour Room" episode of Gaki No Tsukai, my favourite Japanese show with a hysterical Old Testament streak. I've learned more about Japanese culture analyzing and overthinking this talk show than I have from two years of living in Tokyo.


Magma rocks "De Futura." Which is more intense: the album-version (posted above) full 18-minute epic, replete with monster-movie organs... or this live performance from French TV, with its Mad Max-meets-Jonestown "White Night" cast, operatic gibberish, and peerless Drummer-Mug?


Oshiri Penpens perform "引き止め男と去る女." One of the best live acts I've seen in Japan. Deeply, importantly strange.


In the most brilliantly ironic and self-aware ad campaign ever, Einsturzende Neubauten bandleader Blixa Bargeld does dramatic readings from the Hornbach home-improvement catalogue. For added cultural context of Mr. Bargeld, go here.


Well, yeah, c'mon. It's Chris Fucking Cunningham.

Self-flagellation as *snark* ART...

One of the reasons I've been so seriously M.I.A. around here is because I've been working on something almost (but not completely) like a film. The good news is that we've got the trailer up & available, and it's a tripartite epic unto itself. Observe:

PART 1


PART 2


PART 3


Now, one small caveat to save you some time and head-scratching: only the third of these is indicative of what to expect of our Film Proper. The good news is that, though I'm currently knee-deep in sound design, the final cut of our debut film is almost in the can. In the meantime, drop by our website and let us know what you think.

(Yeah, it's not a real website. Bite me. You think we got cash to throw around on shite like domain names and hosting? Hell, does this LOOK like the work of people with real jobs?)